Outside Publications

Five years ago this week, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gave a television address about the largely peaceful protests against his rule. “Let us act as quickly as possible to heal our wounds and restore harmony to our larger family and...

Belgian investigators have taken a beating since failing to disrupt the Brussels bombings last week. They took more than four months to locate Salah Abdeslam in the very neighborhood he grew up in. Belgian investigators also missed the network’s...

Easter Sunday, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan—The thing about cancer is that you cannot flee it. Cancer gives you one choice: How will you deal with it? I was diagnosed with cancer at Thanksgiving, just after my last trip to northern...

In the context of its continuing rivalry with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s response to limited success in Yemen and setbacks in Syria has been to try and reassert its influence, contain its enemies, and close ranks—reevaluating some of its alliances...

On March 16, 2014, Crimeans voted in a sham referendum for Russia to annex Crimea. Has life improved for the approximately 2 million people who live there? Not at all. On every measure, from the economy to its treatment of minorities,...

When strangled, an animal fights wildly, kicking and screaming to avoid death, hoping to create a window of opportunity through which to survive. Today, in Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State  gasps for air. A year ago, it prospered...

Tuesday’s attacks in Brussels were a stark reminder that terrorism is a major issue confronting the US and the global community. The terror group ISIS is bringing their fight to the heart of the Western world. As a result...

When Turkey downed a Russian jet last November, it did so in the hopes of containing Russian efforts in Syria. Instead, it may have triggered a process that is putting Vladimir Putin in the driver’s seat in redrawing the...

On Feb. 24 the United Nations Development Program commemorated its 50th anniversary. Beneath the boisterous celebration of past achievements, a UNDP background paper quietly sounded a sobering note. “Significant deprivations persist,” the paper stated, “and many problems faced today...

FPRI takes no positions on the presidential candidates; naturally, our individual scholars do, and we anticipate those positions will vary.  During their presidential campaigns both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton advocate limiting foreign trade in order to help American...